by Imogen Nolde
As I pulled in, I thought I saw her front curtain move. My heart surged with hope that it was Zoe, and she’d be running out the door to meet me. How beautiful would that be? In an ideal world, I supposed…
I pushed open the car door. Set my feet onto the pavement.
I passed by the window and went to the side gate, pushing it open. I walked through into the backyard, grabbing hold of the clothesline, spinning it around. I pulled the peg bucket off the end of it and tipped its contents onto the grass.
A silver key glittered within.
I pocketed it and then walked back round to the front of the house. I opened the door and crossed over the doormat. The screen door slammed shut behind me, engulfing me in shadow. I peered through the archway on the left to see if I might catch who had disturbed the curtains. Namely Milo.
But I couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Milo…” I called. “Milo, it’s me Vera. Where are you?”
I continued down the hallway and into the kitchen.
Every cupboard and drawer in there was wide open.
The police obviously hadn’t tidied up before leaving.
I spied Milo’s food bowl next to the laundry door, and picked it up. I brought it to the sink and washed it in soapy water. I dried it off with paper towel and placed it on the counter. Then I went to cupboard and grabbed the bag of dry stuff.
I sprinkled the biscuits into the bowl.
Milo’s face peered round the hallway corner.
“There you are, darling,” I said. “You must be so hungry. You poor thing.”
He meowed at me.
I put the food tray down and let him eat.
Then I went looking for his water bowl.
“Do you want some milk?” I said opening the fridge. “Does Zoe give you milk?”
No response on that end.
I decided to take the carton out and closed the fridge door.
Snap.
My ears pricked up sharply.
There was a noise somewhere in the house.
I swallowed. Suddenly I felt scared.
“Let’s … let’s finsish that later,” I mumbled. Then I realized I needed his cat carrier if I wanted to get him out of here. Where should I try first? The laundry maybe?
I walked over to it and opened the laundry cupboard.
As soon as I did so, I felt a presence slip in behind me. A piece of rope was fastened around my neck tightly, strangling me.
I tried to scream, my arms waving about everywhere frantically.
I could feel his hot, dirty breath on my ear. “Die, bitch.”
Twisting round I saw Milo the cat bound into the laundry, his claws out, slashing at the bandit’s ankles.
“Aaarrgh!”
The rope loosened, and I stumbled away, gasping for breath.
I made it as far as the kitchen before two more men stepped in from the hallway, blocking my path. One of them had a gun in his hand.
“No!” I squealed. “Get away from me!”
The pistol was trained on me as I collapsed to my knees.
At that point I closed my eyes.
Darkness consumed all.
14 Redthorn
I could smell danger a mile away. I could feel it in the air.
A Barbie doll on my left shoe, and a tractor on my right, I kicked my way back through the yard with the information I required. Still, something wasn’t right. I quickened my pace and was led to discover a familiar car sitting in the neighboring driveway.
“Oh,” I murmured aloud. “Oh shit.”
I burst through the front door and charged down the hallway to catch Vera crouching on the kitchen tiles with a gun aimed at the side of her head.
With one violent swoop, I smashed it out of the man’s hand, taking hold of it and pointing it at his.
“Settle down,” he exclaimed. “What are you doing?”
I lowered it slowly.
My main guy stepped through the adjacent opening, leafing through a printed document.
“She’s seen our faces,” he said. “I understand this is a hotspot, however –”
I reached down and pulled Vera up from the ground.
“You never kill anyone, unless I give the okay,” I said. “Do you understand?”
He cleared his throat. “Yes, boss.”
“Then finish up and get the hell out of here. That goes for all of you.”
“Mr. Redthorn?” Vera mumbled, uncertainty.
“Shut up,” I scolded her. “Get out the front door now.”
“I need – I need the cat.”
“What?”
“I’m picking it up for Zoe’s Mom.”
I looked at my men again. “Where’s the cat?”
One of them came out of the laundry holding it, as it squirmed violently in his grasp.
“Oh Jesus,” I muttered. “Give it to her.”
He passed it along.
Vera stormed off behind me.
I looked at the ground. “What is that? A cat-carrier?”
They shrugged.
I picked it up and walked quickly out the front door behind her.
Vera had made it to her car by that time.
“Hey,” I said. “Wait just a minute.”
I walked over with the carrier.
I held the door open and she ushered him inside.
“Open the backdoor,” I instructed her.
Vera complied and we set the cat in her backseat.
She closed the door.
“What the hell’s going on?” she demanded. “Do you have something to do with Zoe’s disappearance?”
I thought before answering her. “Not exactly.”
“They were about to kill me, you bastard!”
She pounded her fists against my chest.
“Stop it,” I said, grabbing her arms. “I saved you, didn’t I?”
“Barely.”
“Look I didn’t want to bring this up, but –”
“Save it.” Vera forced open the front door.
I grabbed hold again. “You better let me explain myself.”
She looked up at me. “Take off the helmet.”
“No.”
“Take it off or I won’t talk to you.”
I released her. Backed away.
She waited.
“I can’t.”
“My friend is missing, you asshole!”
“I know she’s missing. Why do you think I’m here?”
“God knows. Looking for something she stole off you?”
“What?”
“Well, what’s your answer for it then?”
I sighed. “When I heard about this, I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. There’s someone after me. After my company. My identity. They’re as close as anyone’s gotten.”
“So this is your fault then!”
“Maybe,” I said. “But I’m trying to put it right. I’m trying to figure out who it is. So we can stop them. And get Zoe back.”
“How do you even know she’s still alive?”
I leant against the car. “Because they sent me a ransom video.”
15 Vera
I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready for it to get real.
But real it was.
No more white lies. No more covering up. No more distortion of the truth.
The video on Mr. Redthorn’s phone told me everything I needed to know.
They had her in a basement. Tied up. Bloody. Wearing nothing but her underwear.
There was a gag in her mouth and she was barely conscious. She’d taken a beating.
A horrible, computer generated voice echoed over the recording.
“Tell million dollars into my account by five pm. Or she dies.”
“The video was time stamped,” Mr. Redthorn explained. “It was taken at seven this morning. So we know she was alive then.”
“Have you paid them the money?” I wanted to know.
We’d driven away from Zoe’s house by now. He had me pa
rk the car in an anonymous street before he showed it to me.
“Not yet.”
My eyes widened. “Why the hell not?”
“I have people looking into the account details. Plus I was able to pull some surveillance from a neighbors computer and send it over to some people to verify.”
“But they’ll kill Zoe!”
“They might kill her anyway,” Mr. Redthorn said. “I’m sorry, Vera, but that’s the reality. Our best chance of getting her back is finding her before the deadline.”
“No, the best chance is to pay them the money right now so she’ll be set free.”
“Do you not have any idea how this works?” Mr. Redthorn said. “What if she overheard something? Or saw one of their faces?”
I thought about Mr. Redthorn’s own man putting the gun to my head.
And the other strangling me with the rope.
“What happens when I pay them then?”
I nodded.
He was right.
“But why didn’t you say something earlier? Why didn’t you tell James about this?”
“It should be clear to you that he’s after me,” Mr. Redthorn said. “He’s not to be trusted at all.”
“Well, you could have told someone else then.”
“I prefer my own people to handle it thank you very much. Look, I know this is hard on you –”
“What do you know? You didn’t even call to tell me. I had to find out from the police.”
There was a pause.
“I’m sorry, Vera. I should have called you. I wanted to deal with this before you got the bad news. It’s just taking a lot longer than I anticipated.”
His phone went off.
He turned away from me to type out a message.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“Wait a moment, please.”
I bit my teeth together. The seconds dragged on.
He glanced back at me. “It’s relevant, I assure you.”
I looked away while he finished the message and put his phone away.
“We’ve got a new lead. Someone I have to see who might be able to help.” He put his arm on the top of his chair and looked to the backseat. “We have to get rid of that cat though.”
“What do you mean ‘get rid’ of it?”
He made a gesture. “We’ll bring him round to my office. One of the girls can look after her.”
“It’s a him.”
“Sorry. One of the girls can look after him.”
“Are you serious? Will he be safe there? Will they look after him?”
“They will if I tell them to.”
I breathed in deeply. “I thought we were going back for your motorcycle and then I was going on.”
“Come on, Vera. I thought you were in this with me.”
I shrugged.
He put his hand behind my back. “I need a partner. An equal. Not someone who stays at home minding kittens.”
I blushed.
It was still weird talking to him through a helmet.
“What do you say, Vera? Let’s do this. For Zoe.”
I nodded. “For Zoe. And us.”
16 Vera
It was a strange moment for me. Walking along the city footpath with Mr. Redthorn in the middle of the day – him dressed top to bottom in black and still wearing his all-consuming helmet – me out of breath and sweating, struggling to keep up with Milo the pussycat and his carrier holding me back. A part of me felt Mr. Redthorn should have stepped in to carry the load for me, him being a gentleman and all. But that wasn’t his way. He had other means of looking after me.
Once we made it there, we stood in the elevator in silence. Not being able to see his face, I had no idea what he was thinking. No idea whether he was concerned for me, for Zoe, for Milo. His mind could have been other places for all I knew. Of course he had made our team-effort pledge earlier, but I wasn’t sure how much faith I put in it. Or him.
What sort of person employs men who break into houses and carry guns?
What sort of person employs men who would kill a woman for no good reason?
Mr. Redthorn told me not to trust James. As though James had a personal vendetta against Mr. Redthorn due to him stealing me away presumably. But what evidence was there that James had any serious feelings about me at all? Because he sent me some text messages after our night together?
What if he was just a cop doing his job?
And Mr. Redthorn was in his sights…
“How is Milo doing?” Mr. Redthorn asked.
My face flushed. I twisted the carrier round to get a better look.
“Not great. He doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“Well, at least he’s in safe hands now.”
“Is he?”
Mr. Redthorn looked down at me. “He’ll get everything he needs.”
“We’ll see.”
The elevator doors opened.
We were on Mr. Redthorn’s floor now.
We passed through the front area and went right up to the desk where his model secretaries were stationed. Each with slightly varied hair placements and outfits from yesterday.
Mr. Redthorn took the carrier from me and placed it on the desk.
“We have a visitor today, ladies.”
“Ooh, Mr. Redthorn, is he yours?”
“No, not exactly,” he replied. “We’re minding him for a friend.”
None of them made eye contact with me.
Still fawning.
“He needs water,” I said. “And food. And a litter box. And a place to roam free.”
Mr. Redthorn rubbed his hands together. “Will there be any problem organizing that?”
“Not at all,” one of them said scooping up the carrier. “We’ll look after him.”
“You better,” I murmured.
Still no reaction.
“Mr. Redthorn, you have several messages waiting for you. The police have also been –”
“I’m not here today, do you understand?” he snapped.
“Yes, Mr. Redthorn, but –”
“Thank you, that is all.”
He moved away from the counter with sweeping speed.
I eyed the women carefully before stumbling after him, trying to keep my head held high.
We passed the stenciled letters of Redthorn’s name on the wall, and made a right towards his office. Mr. Redthorn pushed open the door and turned on the light.
It seemed just as I had left it the previous night.
“Take a seat,” Mr. Redthorn said.
I walked up to his desk and sat down on the chair opposite.
Mr. Redthorn was on the left side of the room, standing at the opening of a walk-in closet.
“What are we doing here?”
“I’m changing,” Mr. Redthorn said. “I’d appreciate some privacy, thank you.”
“Oh. Right.”
He stepped into the closet.
I breathed in heavily and glanced around anxiously whilst I waited. Would it be too much to hope for that he’d remove the helmet before coming out? I thought about saying something about it, but then I’d probably come off as a complainer. Shame on me. With my ridiculous expectations.
After a couple of minutes he reemerged, dressed in a tuxedo and wearing a white porcelain face mask. I stood up. As he ventured closer, the shadows around his eyes disappeared and I could see his iris’s beaming with their fascinating color. A similar shade of purple ran across the mask diagonally, in the shape of a lightning rod.
At least though I could now see his hair, which was black.
The pieces were coming together.
“You didn’t prefer the helmet, did you?” he asked.
I walked over to him slowly.
He caught my hand as I reached out to touch him.
I forced my way through his grasp as he held onto me, so I could straighten his tie out.
“You can’t hide from me forever,” I said. I touched the top of his head softly. “There’
s only so much of you I haven’t seen.”
I put my other hand near his pants.
“Vera. Are you trying to seduce me?”
“No. Dummy. We have worked to do.”
His head tilted back. “Of course.”
He briskly walked by me and towards the office door. He switched off the light again. “After you.”
I walked through the opening and proceeded back round to the front area.
He came in behind me.
“Remember,” Redthorn sang out as he passed the secretaries. “I wasn’t here.”
They looked up.
Nodded.
I couldn’t see Milo anywhere.
“Don’t worry,” Mr. Redthorn said squeezing my hand. “He’ll be alright.”
I looked up at him, with a small smile.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all.
Mr. Redthorn pushed the elevator button and we waited for it to come up to us.
Moments passed.
Then the doors opened.
“Vera?” James Sheppard exclaimed getting off the elevator. “What are you doing here?”
With him was his partner Amy and a couple of uniformed cops.
I suddenly realized Mr. Redthorn wasn’t holding my hand anymore.
I turned to my left and saw him hurrying away down the corridor.
“Who was that?” James demanded. “Was it Mr. Redthorn?”
“Uh – um,” I spluttered.
James snapped his fingers. “Go after him.”
The officers engaged in pursuit, calling after Mr. Redthorn, their guns drawn. Amy followed behind them at a distance.
James stayed with me.
“Vera?”
“What?” I mumbled.
“You have some explaining to do.”
17 Vera
His hand on my back, not quite hard, but not really soft either – James led me down the other end to the corridor till we reached a small room that was vacant. He pulled a couple of chairs off the wall and handed one to me.
“Is this really necessary?” I demanded. “I’m not suspected of anything. I’m free to go wherever I want.”
“Vera, what’s gotten into you?” James burst out. “I’m trying to find Zoe. It’s my job. We’re supposed to be friends for christ’s sake.”
I shook my head.
“Please. Sit down.”
I crossed my arms together and reluctantly sat. “He hasn’t done anything.”
